Thursday, September 29, 2016

Verizon is looking out for itself as
the firm and other top carriers anticipate Comcast and Charter
Communications to enter the wireless space. The cable companies plan to
invoke their mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreements with
Verizon, melding their WiFi networks with the carrier’s wireless
services for mobile offerings, Inside Towers has reported.Founded in 1983, Verizon has grown to
include the communications, entertainment and information sectors; it
has a market cap of $214.09 billion, according to investment firm Zacks.
Most carriers plan on having their 5G
networks fully deployed around the 2020 timeframe, according to industry
experts. AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile currently plan a 3-year target. Continue Reading

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Tower owners and AM radio station owners may have more options than it first appears for a joint Return on Investment.

Some owners of heritage AMs are
receiving real estate offers from developers that are so lucrative they
must seriously consider them. In some cases, they’ve decided to sell
because the land surrounding the tower sites and directly under the
structures and even the value of the AM station itself, is worth much
more than the station’s revenue. Two big land deals Inside Towers recently covered are Cumulus-owned KABC/KLOS, Los Angeles and WMAL in Bethesda, Maryland.

Lease, rather than sale, opportunities
exist for AM owners and carriers, though they’re not as common as
arrangements between FM owners and telecoms because of the difficult
engineering involved in preventing AM signal interference. Fletcher
Heald & Hildreth Managing Partner, Frank Montero, tells Inside Towers
“AM stations have been trying to use their towers for supplemental
income by diplexing with other AMs or leasing to wireless carriers like
Verizon or T-Mobile.” Continue Reading

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Denver has one of the slowest mobile
data speeds in the country, experts agree. A combination of more people
moving into the area, increasing demand on cell networks, is one reason
but the larger reason has to do with spectrum. Of the four companies
servicing the area, not one company has a big chunk of spectrum, reports
the Denver Post.AllNet Insights & Analytics
President Brian Goemmer says T-Mobile owns a good amount of Advanced
Wireless Spectrum in Denver, however AT&T and Verizon own portions
in-between. By not owning contiguous bands, none of the carriers can
offer the top upload and download speeds carriers offer in other cities,
according to Goemmer. Continue Reading

Monday, September 26, 2016

AT&T is reportedly looking to revise tower lease deals where it can. Letters seen by FierceWireless purport to show AT&T pressing tower operators for new terms, and in some direct language, asking for lower rates.An AT&T spokesman says the
company’s execs are “frustrated with the current tower cost structure
and believe it is not sustainable.” The letters imply a “no” response or not responding at all will lead to the carrier’s “review of alternate locations.”

The carrier says it’s revaluating the
terms and conditions of all leases coming up for renewal; it seeks to
reduce or eliminate price increases, “fair” early termination rights,
plus the ability to modify or upgrade tower equipment for no extra cost,
according to the account. Continue Reading

Friday, September 23, 2016

Now Charter Communications wants to be
in the wireless business too. The news comes a day after rival Comcast
said it plans to invoke a 2011 deal with Verizon and launch a wireless
service that would run on a combination of its own WiFi and Verizon’s
network by mid-2017,Inside Towers reported yesterday.Charter jumping into the wireless business could mean more competition for Verizon and AT&T, which dominate, reports theAP.
Since its purchase of Time Warner Cable in May, Charter is now bigger,
claiming 25 million+ customers. In contrast, Comcast has 28+ million. Continue Reading

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and CCA can
trace their roots back to 1992 when Wheeler started as the head of CTIA
and CCA first began. Wheeler opened the annual CCA Convention yesterday
in Seattle saying the federal agency is “pursuing an aggressive agenda
to seize the opportunities of mobile for rural America.Steven Berry, the President & CEO of CCA concurred:“I
agree with the Chairman’s observation that competition is the key to
ensuring a robust mobile wireless marketplace for all consumers. CCA looks forward to continued work with the Commission to ‘form a united front for our mobile future.’”

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Millions of New Yorkers’ cell phones
screamed out an air raid siren-like sound yesterday morning flashing a
message that said “WANTED.” The alerts signaled the manhunt for a
suspected bomber in the Manhattan blast that occurred on Saturday but
also represented the first digital manhunt in New York City.

Along with digital billboards, radio
and TV stations, used by law enforcement to alert the public this modern
equivalent of a “wanted” poster showed up on everyone’s phone. TheTwitter alert looked like this:

Monday, September 19, 2016

Broadband deployment, and especially
5G infrastructure is key for the nation’s economy, FCC Commissioners
told lawmakers at last Thursday’s oversight hearing before the Senate
Commerce Committee. In what is likely the last time the current makeup
of Commissioners will appear before Congress, Chairman Wheeler discussed
the Spectrum Frontiers Report and Order, which the agency recently
adopted to speed development and deployment of 5G wireless technology.He pledged to “balance the needs of
various different types of uses in these bands through effective sharing
mechanisms; take steps to promote competitive access to this spectrum;
encourage the development of secure networks and technologies from the
beginning; and remove unnecessary hurdles to siting and infrastructure
deployment.” Continue Reading

Thursday, September 15, 2016

The European Union promises to
unsaddle companies with less regulation as they deploy 5G. All cities
and transport links in the EU should have reliable 5G coverage by 2025,
according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.However, 17 European wireless operators say the blueprint doesn’t match up to their expectations and leaves out key points. Overall,
the EU plan puts infrastructure deployment incentives in place but also
puts the burden on the industry to harmonize standards without offering
much help, reports the-mobile-network.com.

The new plan is intended to clear out
regulatory barriers across Europe to broadband deployment, making it
easier to invest in infrastructure, both locally and nationwide, reports
Mobileworldlive.com.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Has wireless earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) growth in the
U.S. peaked? Investment banking firm UBS believes so. However other
metrics that drive financial value come into play as well; that’s
according to a new report from USB titled “Wireless clouds starting to gather.”

Unlike other developed wireless
markets around the world, the U.S. has seen dramatic growth in EBITDA
per POP over the past six years, despite the fact that the industry has
essentially gone from a two player market to a four player market with
the emergence of T-Mobile and Sprint as competitive factors. UBS
believes this will begin to impact the financials in 2017.

Over the past two years, wireless
EBITDA growth has generated more than 100 percent of consolidated EBITDA
growth for the four nationals. “Our models reflect 3 percent industry
EBITDA growth in 2017, driven by T-Mobile and Sprint while wireless
EBITDA remains flattish at AT&T/Verizon (implying the majority of
consolidated EBITDA growth is coming from the wireline and other
segments, which may prove to be too optimistic),” writes analyst John
Hodulik. Continue Reading

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Cell phone towers are at the heart of
the country’s 911 system, one which is vulnerable to attack, according
to researchers in Israel. Fifteen years after the September 11 attacks
on the U.S. comes the sobering news that the nation’s 911 system could
potentially be hacked.

Researchers at Ben Gurion University
in Israel say in a report they’ve shared with the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security and the FBI they’ve simulated a telephone
denial-of-service attack to disable a state’s 911 call centers, reports NDTV.
In a Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) attack, cell phones are
infected with malware so they make fake 911 calls, clogging the phone
lines and preventing legitimate calls from getting through. Continue Reading

Monday, September 12, 2016

3M has committed to weekly briefings
with members of the Telecommunications Industry Registered
Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) about its recall of the original tower
climber Lad-Saf sleeve. After 30 years of use, the fall protection
equipment has been replaced by a redesigned Lad-Saf sleeve, Inside Towersreported last week.Members of 3M’s Fall Protection
Business spoke at the TIRAP executive board meeting held at the CTIA
Super Mobility conference in Las Vegas last week. 3M and TIRAP are working together to clarify the proper installation, inspection and use of safety climb systems. Continue Reading

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has promised to clear regulatory red tape in
order to ease 5G development. Speaking to attendees of CTIA’s Super
Mobility Show in Las Vegas today, he said: “5G is like the missing piece
of the puzzle depicting the wireless future:

'Where today’s wired and
wireless networks force customers to choose EITHER high speed and
capacity OR mobility, 5G’s promise of gigabit mobile connections at any
location will open up hugely disruptive new value propositions for the
users of networks.”
There are three things the FCC can do to help spur 5G deployment,
Wheeler said: 1) ensuring ample availability of spectrum to a range of
competitors; 2) taking all steps to foster competitive provision of
infrastructure; and 3) removing unnecessary hurdles to siting. “In all
these areas, the FCC has activities underway.”
He referenced spectrum, adding the agency has been making available more
low-band, mid-band, and high-band airwaves. The ongoing incentive
auction makes available a “greenfield” of low-band spectrum, and
creation of the new Citizens Broadband Radio service in the 3.5 GHz band
are landmarks in using new Continue Reading

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

It was the best of auctions, it was
the worst of auctions…depending on whom you ask. While broadcasters are
bemoaning a shortage in bidding of $66 billion dollars in Round One,
carriers are pointing out they spent lavishly compared to past auctions.
The carrier version of events comes after the FCC’s auction of
spectrum surrendered by broadcasters came in at bids well short of the
$88 billion goal last week…$66 billion short to be exact…necessitating
more rounds.Wireless trade association CTIA said
the Stage 1 bids, totaling $23.1 billion, still surpassed the last
low-band spectrum auction total of nearly $19 billion, according to insidesources.com. Continue Reading

Friday, September 2, 2016

Just like the cloaking device on Star
Trek, 3M has come up with a way to disguise cell towers. That matters
for carriers looking for faster site acquisition and less opposition to
new structures.The new 3M Conceal Film adheres to
antennas and cell site equipment with no impact on RF performance and no
signal degradation, according to the manufacturer.

Conceal Film is a new generation of
the Minnesota-based company’s high-performance, non-metallic reflective
film technology. Reflective over the full visible spectrum and capable
of RF transmission into the microwave range, the film is formulated with
an adhesive backing that provides long life in outdoor environments and
ultraviolet irradiance stability. Continue Reading

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About Inside Towers

Inside Towers is written for the wireless tower industry. There is plenty of news and information for wireless, but there is very little news targeted to towers specifically. There is no other available source of daily tower news and information written for the tower owners, managers, and supporting businesses.